Pack-handling apparatus



Mar.13',1923. Y 1448x715 l E. Pool.

- PACK HANDLING APPARATUS F116@ Aug. 2', 1921 4 sheets-sheet 1 Mar; 13, 1923-.

E. CI POOL PACK HANDLINGAPPA'RATUS- P11611 Aug. 2, 1921 4 sheets-shee1 2 L x n) j W 1-111 111 1111111111111 111 D, ma NN PQR .3% /N A 0 E n Qkm NM. n w n n n m d I@ m KM, v N Q1 1% Nw 1Q. hhwwmw em \1Q .Wu LI11 im 1\ Sn NN mv %\\%1\.1\1 11N E. C.' FCJL.`

PACK HANDLING APPARATUS F118@ Aug. 2, 1921 4 sheets-sheen 5 Mar. 13, 1923.

E. C. POOL 'PACK HANDLING APPARATUS 1921 4 shams-shew 4 Filed Aug. 2

y zen of the United States,` and residentof' New Castle, in the county of Lawrence and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain Patente-cl Mar. 1923..

UNITED ISTAT-Es.

PATENT. OFFICE.

maniac. P001., oP'NEW CASTLE, PENNSYLVANIA l PAcx-HANDmP-:G APPARATUS. A

Appunti@ 'meaAugust 2,1921'. 'serial No. 489,243.

To all whom t may com/emr Be it known thatl, ELME'R `C. Poon, a c1t1- new and4 useful Improvements vin Pack- -Handling Apparatus, of which the follow-v pile `to a tin'ning machine, and has for one of its objects-an improved feeding mecha-v nism such as that described-in my co-pending application, Serial No. 426,627; tiled November 26', 1920, having an improved'pack handling mechanism embodied therein, `wh-ich into the machine that othenplates may be addedto-said pack without interfering with the 'operation of said :feeding mechanism.-

sectional side elevation of my improved feeding mechanism as applied to a` tinning. ma-

chine,l the section being taken on Athe line I-I of Figure 3.

and'approved form. The pot is separated transversely -by a"vertical wall or partition.

'linelI-H lof Figure 1. Y

yFigure 2 is a sectional 'plan-taken on the Figure 3 is a sectional rear] line III- HI of Figure 1.

Figure t is a partial sideelevation. Figure 5 is a perspective view showing levation on details in the' construction ofthe pack hanA`A dling apparatus forming part of my 4invention. e f

ln theaccompanying drawings, the lette)` A. designates-a tinning not, in' itself an old edge ofmt'his partition or septum 2, which ter; minates above vthebottom of the tinning pot, andftliejupper edge of a rib or projection 3 on 1thy bottom vof the pot defines the width ori-vertical dimensionof a narrow passage4 or opening D, through' which the plates,

vwhile submerged .in the'bath of molten tin,l

passes from the compartment B- into the compartment C of the pot A. The particular potshown is 'of'a width which permits ofl two or more plates, Side by side, being passed .through the tinning po Located immediately above the upper edge of the compartment B, at the plate entering side of the tinning pot, are ltwo sets of feed osilrplusv tin from `the plates. Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 1s aVv rolle'rsE and F, which are arranged to receive the plates from my improved feeding` mechanism to 'b e described, and tol move them"for`wardly and downwardly into the .tin pot at an angle to the horizontal.

of pressure rolls I. These pressure rolls feed the plates from compartment B into the compartment C. will so position the pack of platesbeing fed Two sets of feed-out rollersJ and K are provided in the compartment C of pot A to feed-out the plates and also to squeeze inclined apron late 10 is provided at the Yentrance end oft e'compartment Bof 8c the pot vto re 've/the plates as they are deliveged/ om my 'improved feeding mechanism. Other guide plates 12 and13, arel arranged to guide the plates through the 'rolls F and'. ll, and curved guide plates'l-l 85 vand 14 form a guide N which directs the forward end of the plates emerging from the set of`p`ressure .rolls upwardly into the bite of the lower set J of the feed-out rollers- J and K.

, 9e`r My .improved feeding mechanism ,is

. adapted tube located directly tothe rear of the tinning pot and .comprises a double set of parts arranged side by. side so as to act on two piles of plates at one time thereby tinning' machine.

A framework or supporting structure 16 is secured to andextends rearwardly from the tinning pot, A and supports the several 10@ parts comprisingumy feeding mechanism.

`feeding two plates, side by side, into the LA bosh orreceptacle '17 is secured to and extends below the j framework 16 fand is adapted to 'retain avvertically 'adjustable plate pile holder. lThe plate holder com# `105 prises a back rest member 19 which isse cured to the back wallyof the bosh ll'and projects inwardly and dwnwardly at an angle, so as to Slidably support any Lshape plate. retainer'20 which is of Sufficientwidth 110 to hold two piles of plates side by side. rlhe plate retainer 2O is adiustably held in pcsi tlQn andl adapted .to .be vertically adj usted-v by means of a pair of chains 21, one of which is secured on each end thereof and passes upwardly over suitable sheaves 22 splined on a shaft 23 journaled in the-bosh,

this shaft having a ratchet and dog operating mechanism 24 on one end outside of the end wall of the bosh.

Mounted on the rear edge of the supporting framework 16 at each end and center thereof is a bracket 25 supporting a shaft 26,A having four arms 27 loosely mounted thereon for pivotal movement.

The Aarms 27 have a pair of cylindrical magnetic plate lifters Y journaled and supported in their lower ends, and the center arms have their upper ends counterweighted by adjustable counterweights 29 mounted on a projecting arm 30. vA locking lever 31 is pivoted on the arms 27, having the counterweights adjacent their upper ends, and such lever is provided with a'notch 32 to engage with the projecting tongue 33 on the frame 16 so as to hold the magnetic plate lifters Y out of their plate engaging position when desired. i

The magnetic plate lifters Y, each comprises a permanent magnetic member 34 mounted within a pair of hollow cylindrical casings 35 1.which have their inner ends j spaced apart and joined by a non-magnetic hollow cylindrical tubular member 36. -Stub shafts 37 are threaded into the outer ends of the casings 35 and support the whole structure in suitable bearings formed in the lower ends of the arms 27. j

The hollow cylindrical casing members 35 are'formed from soft iron or other material which will readily convey the circuit or attracting forces from Vthe permanent magnety 34, thus forming unlike poles through vwhich a circuit will be completed when they contact witha plate.

-The outer surface or periphery of the' members 35 is iuted, forming a series of' knife edge ribs or projections 39. It will thus be seen that each of the ribs or projections 39 will successively engage a plate as the magnetv `is rotated, and that projections on the opposite casings will form opposite or unlike ole contacts, and that such pro` jections will contact with the face of the outermost plate of the pile in the retainer 20.

I adjoining plates.

Suitable cross-beams 40-40 are arranged to extend from one end of the frame sup- .port 1'6 to the other immediately above the upper edge of the bosh, and carry suitable curved gulde strips 41-42 arranged to'form an upwardly and inwardly inclined passage- .way to guide the plates being conveyed,

A second pair of cross-beams 43-43 is arranged forward and above the cross-beams 40, and carry other guide strips 44-45 forming a second passage-way adapted to receive the plates from the passage-way between thestrips 41-42, and direct them for` wardly and upwardly between suitable pinch rollers 46 and 47 of any well-known construction.

The lower one of the pair of pinch rollers E is driven by a suitable' source of ower and carries a sprocket 48 on each end. he pinch roller 46 also carries a sprocket 48a on each end in line with the sprocket 48, and a third sprocket 48b is mounted on each end of the shaft 26 in line with the sprockets 48 and 48a. Alink chain 49 is trained about the sprockets 48, 48, 48h, thus driving the pinch rollers E, pinch rollers 46 and 47, and 'shaft 26 at the same speed. It will be understood that if found desirable in practice, a sirgle set of drive sprockets may be used.

'pair of sprockets 50 of somewhat smaller diameter vthan the sprockets 48, 48a, 48b are mounted on the ends of the shaft 26, and asprocket 51, of greater diameter than sprockets 50, is mounted on the end of the outside stub shafts 37 of each magnetic conveyer. A link chain 52 is trained over the sprockets 50 and 51 to constantly drive the 'conveyer members, which willJ necessarily revolve at a lesser speed than thatof the pinch rollers E and pinch rollers 46, 47 due to the difference in size of the sprockets 50 and 51.

A cross-beam member 54 is arranged forward of the rollers 46-47and has two pairs of suitable spaced depending lugs 55 which support pivot shafts 56 adapted to have fu-ide plates 57 hingedly supported thereon. Dlates 57 have a crank arm 58 secured thereto whichaa'buts the cross-beam 54 when the plate is in its lowermost position, and carries a counterweighted lever 59 to normally hold it in such position.

Supported on suitable cross-beams 60 forward of the hinged plates 57, and in proximity thereto, 1s a pair of guide plates 61. The plates 61 are composed of ltop and bottom pointed portions, the top portion being' directed forwardly over .the rollers E and the bottom portion directed downwardly and forwardly to the passage between the rollers E. Y

The inclined apron 10 of the tinningpot is arranged below the plates 57 and 61, andcompletes the passage-way to the rollers E.

The hinged counterweighted guide plates 57 serve as a trap so that if more than one plate or sheet should be carried through the pinch rollers 46-47 they'will bearJ against the guide plate 57 with suiiicient force to counteract the eflect of the counterweighted A lever 59 and raise the guide plate, thereb'y1 allowing the plurality of feed plates or sheets to pass over the dual guide plates 61 and away from the tinning pot.

Magnetic separators X are mounted above each of the magnetic plate lifters Y and comprise a rectangular casing member 63 pivotally supported on"the1erossbeam 40.A The casings 63 containa permanent magnet 64 and are provided with blade or knife edge poles 65 which extend into the path of the lifted plates and contacts with the rear faces thereof. The magnet v64 is of less strength than the magnets of the plate lifter Y, and; therefore, will not materially retard the movement of the plates, yet it is of suiiic'ient'strength that if two plates should stick or in some manner be lifted together,

it will retard the movement of the secondv shaft 67 journaled in the frame support 16 and hafving a plurality of locking fingers 68 secured thereon of triangular shape, and. of such size that their fiat sides will eX# tend past the guide strips and into the path of the lifted plates. As the 'plates are guided between the strips 44 and 45, they will bear against the upper strips 45 due to the direction of theirtravel, and in'this position. theywill strike the fingers 68 and cause the shaft and fingers toprotate onethird of a revolution, therebyl presenting one of the other f aces of the fingers against the plate. f a second plate is overlappedv on the first in such a manner that its forward edgeis disposed to the rear of the forward edge of the first plate, it will strike the fingers and be held, since the fingers cannot again rotate until the firstplate has passed clear from under the fingers.

Another feature vand functionV of these fingers is that they will cause aneven feed of the plates from bothof the magnetic feed rollers Y, since if one 'roller feeds a plate in advance) of the other, the first to reach or strike the fingers 68 will rotate them the one-third'turn, and then lock them against rotation until it has passed 'fromv lother magnetic feed roller to follow the one just clearing the ngers, thus causing the newly presented plate, .and theiheld plate.

to pass together into the bite of the rollers As the platelifters Y are rotated'to feed the plates from the pile or pack, it becomes necessary to renew the pack from'time to time and in order to do so without interhave provideda pack shifting or handling mechanlsm which comprises a pair, of U- shaped' yoke members I70.v Thel yoke members have their side arms pivotall'y mounted as at` 71 to the lower-ends of levers 72, which have their upper ends keyed or otherwise secured to operating shafts 73.y The lshafts 73 Ahave their outer ends journaled in rack plates 74 and their inner ends journaled in al single double bracketv75 which is secured to the forward wall of the bosh 17 by bolts 76 or the like. 75 Each of the operating shafts V7 3 extends, beyond the rack 'plates 74 which4 are bolted to and extend upwardly from-.the end walls of the bosh 17. I

A suitable operating lever 78, secured lto the outer end of each of the shafts 73, is provided with -a hand grip 79 for the operator to grasp. A

The side arms of the U-shaped yoke members 70 normally rest upon and ride across the shoulders or bearing bosses 27a on the lower ends of the arms 27, in which the stub shafts 37 of plate lifters Y are journaled. "f

It will be readilyapp'arent that when the 90 operator grasps the lever 78 and rocks yit `in a forward direction it will so rotate vthe shaft as to move the yoke70 rearwardly. As the yoke is moved rearwardly the operator will either grasp the yoke itself and manually lift it upwardly to clear the .pack of plates being fed into the machine and then let it drop behind said pack, or he will grasp the fiexible cable or chain 77 4which has one end secured to the one' side bar of 100 the yoke and its other end secured to the sliaft 26, and thus. lift the yoke.

In order to hold the yoke invarious adjustable positions, a spring pressed pawl 80 having operating handle or grip 81 is 105 mounted `on the lever 78 and is adapted to be engaged in the upper serrated or toothed edge 81 of the rack plate 74.

`Whentheoperator desires to renew the pack ofplates hewill lmove the yoke for that pack rearwardly and lift it over the pack as described above. He will then move or rook the lever 7 8 rearwardly so as to move theyoke forwardly, which will pull the remaining plates of the pack with it,

and when the .pack has been moved forward to the desired position, he will 'release the pawl 80 and lock the yoke in position. He'

may then renewthe'pack by adding plates to the rear of the original pack. I 'When suf- 120 ficientplates have thus been added. the yoke will be moved rearwardly and disengaged from the original pack.

` 'Afforward rest 82 .is secured to the forward wall of the bosh 17 to prevent the 125 plates being tilted forwardheyonda point 'where' they A'may be operatively en aged=by fering with the operation of the machine, g

the plate lifters Y.

The operation of my improved feeding mechamsm m11 be readily understood from 1s@ din the appended claims.

the above description takenv with the accompanying drawings. The peculiar and novel construction of magnetic plate lift will cause the magnetic forces to be concentrated on a single plate of the pile .and will lift it through the guide passages to the pinch rollers 46-47, which will in turncfeed it to the pinch" rollers E of the tinning pot.

The operations ofv the three separate mechanisms for preventing-more than one plate being carried tothe tinning pot, have to feed single plates, and therefore I do not wish to be limited to such a combination.

have'shown and described oneembodiment of my invention with great particularity, I -do not wish nor do I intend to limit my invention to such structure, since various modifications in structure and combination of parts may be made without departin kfrom the spirit of my invention as define For instance. wound active magnets may be substituted for the permanent magnets shown, or other such substitutions of equivalents made' as -found necessary or desirable.-

1. In an automatic plate feeding mechanism, a substantially L-shaped plate holder for supportin a pack of plates, said holder being incline rearwardlyto support said lates in an inclined position, means for eeding plates `from sald pack, and means for moving said plates away from the back of said holder, so as to permit the insertion of other plates between said pack and said supporting means.

2, In an automatic plate feeding mechanism, means for supporting a pack of plates,

f Leesgrle means for feedingplates from said pack, and means for moving said plates from said supportin means so as to permit the insertion of ot er plates between said pack and said supporting means, said means including a U-'shaped yoke member adaptedto be engaged around said pack, and means for moving said yoke and said pack forwardly away from said supporting means.

3. In an automatic plate feedingA mechanism, a substantially-L-shaped plate holder for supporting a pack of plates, said holder being inclined rearwardly to support said plates in an inclined position, means for feeding plates from said pack, and means for moving said plates away from the back of said holder, so as to permit the insertion of other plates between said pack and said supporting means, said means including an operating shaft, leversvon said shaft, a U- shaped yoke member pivotally mounted on said levers adapted to be engaged around `It will also be understood that while I` said pack and to move said pack` forwardly away from the back of said plate holder when said ,shaft is rocked, and means for` rocking said shaft.

4. In an automatic' plate feeding mechanism, a substantially L-shaped plate holder for supportinov a pack of plates, said holder being inclined rearwardly to support said plates in an inclined osition, means for feeding plates from sald pack, and means for moving said plates away from the back of said holder, so as -to permit the insertion of other plates between said pack and said supporting means, said' means including an operating shaft, levers on said shaft, a U- shaped yokemember pivotally mounted on said levers adapted to be engaged laround said pack and to movesaid pack forwardly away from the back of said plate holder .when said shaft is rocked, a lever for rocking said shaft, and a pawl and rack adapted to co-operate to -lock said shaft and yoke in its various positions.

In testimony signed my name.

ELMER C. POOL.

whereof I have 'hereunto' 

